£10m Lottery boost for Stonehenge project

The project to improve the World Heritage Site, including building a new centre for visitors and closing an adjacent road, was thrown into doubt earlier this year when the Government announced it was axing its 10m contribution as part of public spending cuts.

The 10m funding confirmed yesterday is more than double what the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) initially earmarked to put towards the scheme and English Heritage said the cash considerably narrowed the funding gap for the project.

It still needs to find around a third of the cost of the project.

Under plans unveiled by English Heritage last year, facilities including a cafe, shop and toilets would be housed in a pair of single-storey areas of glass and timber about a mile-and-a-half west of the prehistoric stones, to which they would be linked by a transit system. The proposals also include plans to close the nearby A344.